Change Happens When You Take Control
I’ll just get to the point. I suffer from depression. No, it’s not just a case of feeling sad or down because I’ve had a bad day. I can’t just “snap out of it.” It’s a feeling that is almost impossible to describe because there are different levels for different people. For me, though, it feels like a brick wall goes up inside my brain that keeps the happiness and positivity out.
Throughout that entire time (which could be a day, a week, a month… even a year) my positive thoughts are doing everything they can to tear the brick wall down that’s dividing my feelings and emotions. The darkness takes over and blankets your mind with deepest despair. It will not let go! I have a great life. A wife who loves me. Two insanely adorable boys. A house. A successful real estate career. It doesn’t matter. When a depression takes over, all of that goodness in the world that I’m blessed with is not enough. I’m not talking about depressed because your goldfish died. I’m talking the deepest feeling of heaviness, sadness and loneliness one can imagine without knowing the reason.
Depression (major depressive disorder or clinical depression) is a common but serious mood disorder. It causes severe symptoms that affect how you feel, think, and handle daily activities, such as sleeping, eating, or working. -National Institute of Mental Health
For a long time my depression went untreated and I just accepted the fact that maybe it’s just who I am. There were (and still are some) days when it pains me mentally to get out of bed because of the sad state my mind is at. But, as hard as it is, I have a family to support and a mortgage to pay. If any of you can relate, you know how heavy your head and body can feel when you’re depressed.
We have control over certain things in our lives, and when we realize that we can decide how and when we want to TAKE that control, amazing things happen. As my real estate career began to take off even more-so than before, I had to come to terms with the fact that I needed to help myself. Especially now that I’ve left my mother’s team after a decade and run my own now. I needed to suck up my pride and stop pretending that I was fine when I was far from it. If I didn’t do it for me, I had to do it for my wife and children, and everyone else who was important to me.
Real estate is an industry that moves at the speed of light. The difference of five minutes can cost you a commission. One day can cost you millions in sales. We don’t have the luxury of letting obstacles like depression get in our way. Maybe you don’t relate to what I go through. Maybe the change you need that you’re able to take control over is right in front of you but you’re denying it as well. Stop waiting. Your pride is not worth your livelihood. Take the control you deserve and something incredible will happen. I promise you.
Incredible change happens in your life when you decide to take control of what you DO have power over instead of craving control over what you don’t.
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